It had been a few days since the incident with Grey, and in the meantime, Iris had spent time with Jack and Ianto, not willing to leave the 51st century man alone. The entire Torchwood team had been taking a break and slowly came back to things to make sure that they still dealt with Rift activities.
Once they got into a hang of things, Iris could sense the impatience from her bond with the Doctor building up, as if he had not been traveling after she last saw him. Soon enough, Jack seemed to brighten up from his sadness of losing his brother the way he did, and Iris smiled brightly along with him, glad that he was able to come back from the event.
But she was also glad and relieved that she had been able to save Owen and Tosh from the traumatic deaths as she had seen in the show in her own world.
As more time passed, the team had fully come back to do work, returning to their pattern of things as the city of Cardiff repaired itself. One day, however, as Iris and Jack were discussing about something that had fallen through the Rift that he had wanted her to look at with Tosh, Iris' phone rang.
Iris quickly answered her phone, giving Jack an apologetic glance, making him smile warmly as he merely ruffled her hair. Annoyed, she swatted his hand as she said,
"Hello?"
She had to take the phone away from her ear as Donna yelled into her phone, "You'd better come to the TARDIS right now! He's flipping out because he wants to go to some flipping tour thing."
Iris chuckled at that and asked, "Why haven't you two gone?"
She could feel Donna's eyeroll as the woman answered her with, "Because he wants someone to go on the tour with him. And I want to go to the salon. Let's take a break he says, and knowing him, the tour is going to be a disaster."
Iris sighed and looked over to Jack, who seemingly heard Donna as he tried hard not to laugh, but seemingly failed to do so. He just smiled at her before giving her a small, but meaningful peck on her forehead, telling her to go ahead and travel.
Within the past few days, she had been unable to keep still for more than a few hours, her Time Lady-self refusing to remain idle. Iris smiled back and quickly agreed to the travel plans, relieving Donna of having to babysit the Doctor.
Despite her asking whether Jack wanted to join, the man shook his head, claiming that they had to go back to take charge of Torchwood and relieve Owen from having to lead the team.
With that, she soon found herself next to the Doctor, who was still trying to persuade the other companion to join in on their trip. However, Donna remained adamant on her dislike for the trip as she emphasized through her phone,
"I said, no."
Iris rolled her eyes as the Doctor visibly pouted, making puppy eyes at her, as if Iris had any power over Donna's wish to relax and not potentially run around. However, she was inwardly panicking as she recognized this trip. It was Midnight. Of all trips to come back to the TARDIS for, she had landed on this one. Iris quelled the panic as she listened to the Doctor say,
"Sapphire waterfall. It's a waterfall made of sapphires. This enormous jewel, the size of a glacier. Reaches the Cliffs of Oblivion, and then shatters into sapphires at the edge. They fall a hundred thousand feet into a crystal ravine."
A part of her mind thought that perhaps, if this was Rose's mother, Jackie, who had been on the other phone of the telephone, she might have come with. However, this was Donna Noble, a woman so fiercely independent in her own mind, that even the thing that would make her the richest woman of the world, would not change her mind if she intended to take a break.
From the spa, Donna chuckled, smirking to herself, as she said to him, "I bet you say that to all the girls. Especially Iris."
The Doctor looked confused as he asked, "What do you say that for? And come on. They're boarding now. It's no fun if you're not there. Four hours, that's all it takes."
Donna sighed as she said, "No, that's four hours there and four hours back. That's like a school trip. Besides, you have Iris. Go enjoy your date."
The Doctor blushed, but luckily for him, Iris hadn't seen it, nor paid attention to his flustered emotions via their bond, as she looked around them in wonder. He quickly caught himself and gave up trying to persuade the red-haired companion as he said,
"All right, I give up. We'll be back for dinner. We'll try that anti-gravity restaurant. With bibs."
Now that, caught Iris' attention as she quickly glared at him. She knew that he knew that she hated those things. One thing as her Time Lady self visibly shuttered at the fashion failure that bibs created.
He could hear Donna snicker as she said, "I don't know. Maybe I should leave that to you aliens."
But before the Doctor could retaliate, Donna quickly ended the phone call. Iris looked over at him as she saw that his phone call with Donna finally ended. She unfurled her arms from herself as she heard him say,
"Shall we? And besides, what could possibly go wrong?"
The Time Lady quickly smacked the back of the Doctor's head as she hissed out, "Don't jinx it! I don't need something to happen today. You promised. A relaxing trip."
The Doctor looked down at her as he said, "But you already know what happens. You said so earlier."
Iris glared at him, stating, "A very miniscule part of me is hoping that you listen to me today. But then again, could I possibly stop you?"
The Doctor smirked at that, wiggling his eyebrows before helping her board. They took their seats, making sure to put the belts on. Iris hummed a tune as she tried calming her nerves when the hostess came up to them and stated, while passing items out to them,
"That's the headphones for channels one to 36. Modem link for 3D vidgames, complimentary earplugs, complimentary slippers..."
And as she continued listing off all the complimentary items to them, the Doctor handed her all the things. Iris had the strong urge to toss the peanuts out of the entire vehicle but kept it down. As much as she was addicted to strawberries in this body, peanuts was one thing that she would eradicate from existence if she could.
Seeing her frown disgustedly at the peanuts, the Doctor pat her head as he took it from her again. He understood that she was still going through things she liked and disliked in her Time Lady body. Besides, Time Lords and Ladies were a very picky race when it came to tastes.
Both of them paid attention to the hostess again as she said, "Enjoy your trip."
The Doctor's smile widened as he responded with, "Oh, I can't wait. Allonsy."
The woman looked thoroughly confused as she asked, "I'm sorry?"
Iris smiled apologetically as she added, "It's French for 'let's go.' Sorry, he can be overly excited about trips like this."
The Hostess gave them a warm smile, thinking that they were a weird, but adorable couple as she merely said, "Fascinating."
As Iris was putting away all of the complimentary items, the Doctor was silently listening and observing their surroundings as they heard an elderly man state,
"They call it the Sapphire Waterfall, but it's no such thing. Sapphire's an aluminum oxide, but the glacier is just compound silica with iron pigmentation."
Iris was thinking behind that logic when she saw the Doctor soon enough turn to face the two people behind them as he introduced them. With a sigh, she plastered a happy smile and turned back too. The Doctor said,
"I'm the Doctor, and this is Iris. Hello."
Iris waved at the two people. She got a slight nod from the man as he said,
"Hobbes. Professor Winfold Hobbes."
Iris quickly interjected and reached her hand out as she looked towards the woman, "And you? What's your name?"
The woman smiled at her as she shook the Time Lady's slim hand as she introduced herself, "Dee Dee. Dee Dee Blasco."
Hobbes snipped at her though, as he said, "Don't bother the man. Where's my water bottle?"
Iris and the Doctor awkwardly looked at each other. But when Dee Dee looked back up after providing the professor the water bottle, Iris winked at her before she and the Doctor turned back to face the front.
Dee Dee blushed at that, not sure what she had winked at her for, but she felt flattered.
Not too long after, all passengers were settled in and the hostess came to the front and started the preparations for the travel.
"Ladies and gentlemen, and variations thereupon, welcome on board the Crusader 50. If you would fasten your seatbelts, we'll be leaving any moment. Doors."
With that, they all watched the doors slide to a close and the shields come down as the hostess commanded them with,
"Shields down."
With that, she added, "I'm afraid the view is shielded until we reach the Waterfall Palace. Also, a reminder. Midnight has no air, so please don't touch the exterior door seals. Fire exit at the rear, and should we need to use it, you first. Now, I will hand you over to Driver Joe."
With that, Iris shifted in her seat to get a bit comfortable, knowing that nothing should happen for the next few hours, hearing the driver say,
"Driver Joe at the wheel. There's been a diamondfall at the Winter Witch Canyon, so we'll be taking a slight detour, as you'll see on the map. The journey covers 500 kliks to the Multifaceted Coast. Duration is estimated at four hours. Thank you for travelling with us, and as they used to say in the olden days, wagons roll."
With that, the shuttle started to move, causing Iris' eyes to widen in decent surprise. The Doctor watched a genuine smile grace her features as her eyes gleamed with wonder. But before they could continue barely containing their joy of the trip, the hostess spoke up again,
"For your entertainment, we have the Music Channel playing retrovids of Earth classics."
Iris grimaced as what she knew was the first screen of many came down. Then before she could completely comprehend what was happening around her, it was absolute chaos as multiple screens were playing noise around them. Both Time Lords felt overwhelmed by the sensory chaos in front of them. The Doctor smirked towards Iris and stealthily pulled his sonic screwdriver out, making it suddenly making the screens return to their docks and stopping all the noise.
Iris smiled in relief while the man behind them stated, "Well, that's a relief."
The hostess looked flustered, despite looking relieved herself, as she stated,
"I do apologize, ladies and gentlemen, and variations thereupon. We seem to had a failure of the Entertainment System."
The Doctor and Iris both feigned innocence as the woman called Val asked in disbelief, "But what do we do?"
The husband yelled out in annoyance, "We've got four hours of this? Four hours of just sitting here?"
The Doctor grabbed Iris' hand and brought them up, making everyone look up at them as he said,
"Tell you what. We'll have to talk to each other instead."
Approximately what the Doctor estimated as 98 kliks later, Iris was talking with Dee Dee about different things. Dee Dee was mostly just describing what she has been learning and Iris her knowledge of some other things. Time continued to flow as Iris furtively would glance towards the Doctor from time to time, making sure that all was alright.
As they continued to wait, Iris was conversing continuously with Dee Dee, when the Doctor decided to join them as he listened to the girl say,
"I'm just a second-year student, but I wrote a paper on the Lost Moon of Poosh, Professor Hobbes read it, liked it, took me on as researcher, just for the holidays. Well, I say researcher. Most of the time he's got me fetching and carrying. But it's all good experience."
The Doctor's interest was definitely piqued at that aspect and he excitedly asked her, "And did they ever find it?"
The girl smiled slightly whilst asking, "Find what?"
Iris answered with, "The Lost Moon of Poosh."
Dee Dee gave them a knowing look, having grown comfortable with the two individuals in front of her as she said, "Oh, no. Not yet."
Iris chuckled at the pout and puppy eyes he gave her for a split second. She could feel the cogs turning in his Time Lord brain as he eventually responded with,
"Well. Maybe that'll be your great discovery, one day. Here's to Poosh."
With that, the trio clinked their glasses together, toasting to the discovery of the supposed lost moon.
Iris continued to interact with a lot of the passengers but found herself favoring Dee Dee and Jethro over everyone else. She really tried to be nice with Sky, but it was hard not to wince whenever the woman complained about everything around her.
Eventually, she let the Doctor interact with the woman while she talked to the hostess, whose name she learned.
And yet, time continued to go by as they still waited for their arrival to the supposed destination. But to stave off their boredom, they allowed the professor to give a lecture of Midnight. Iris inwardly groaned at the elementary lecture slides as the man explained,
"So, this is Midnight. Do you see, bombarded by the sun. Xtonic rays, raw galvanic radiation. Dee Dee, next slide. It's my pet project. Actually, I'm the first person to research this. Because, you see, the history is fascinating. Because there is no history. There's no life in this entire system. There couldn't be. Before the Leisure Palace Company moved in, no one had come here in all eternity. No living thing."
Iris smirked as the young boy behind them asked, "But how do you know? I mean, if no one can go outside."
But that smirked quickly died down to pure irritation, causing the Doctor to look at her with slight worry as they both heard Jethro's mother quickly retaliate against his son with,
"Oh, his imagination. Here we go."
Before the Doctor could step up, Iris turned around and stated, "I'm sorry ma'am, but he's got a point. How would anyone know if it's a life form that nobody in this room has ever thought of. A life form nobody has ever encountered before?"
Val looked positively offended but remained quiet on the matter as she wasn't sure if she should go against the woman who had practically scolded her.
At that moment, Hobbes' eyes brightened as he added, "Exactly. We look upon this world through glass, safe inside our metal box. Even the Leisure Palace has lowered down from orbit. And here we are now, crossing Midnight, but never touching it."
Iris groaned the moment the car shook a little and various noises were heard from outside. Eventually all passengers felt a sense of dread enter their systems as the car stopped.
Val panicked as she asked, "We've stopped. Have we stopped?"
Her husband quickly added on, "Are we there?"
Dee Dee shook her head, knowing how long the trip should have been as she stated, "We can't be, it's too soon."
Hobbes looked worried too, as he mumbled quietly, "They don't stop. Crusader vehicles never stop."
As they were all talking amongst themselves with worry, the hostess appeared and tried to calm them down as she said,
"If you could just return to your seats. It's just a small delay."
Biff sighed as he whispered, "Maybe just a pit stop."
Iris and the Doctor both walked over towards the hostess, who was trying to figure the situation out, as she asked, "What's going on?"
They all heard Hobbes state, "There's no pit stop. I've been on this expedition fourteen times. They never stop."
Sky, the woman Iris looked towards disdainfully stated, "Well, evidently we have stopped, so there's no point in denying it."
Both Time Lords sighed as they heard Jethro make light of the situation with a dark laugh and state, "We've broken down."
His mother must have felt the same as them as she sarcastically responded with, "Thanks, Jethro."
Jethro continued, "In the middle of nowhere."
Eventually he stopped when his father scolded him with, "That's enough. Now stop it."
Iris reached for the Doctor's hand, dreading what was to come, not sure how to minimize the damage of the future events, as they heard the hostess state,
"Ladies and gentlemen, and variations thereupon. We're just experiencing a short delay. The driver needs to stabilize the engine feeds. It's perfectly routine, so if you could just stay in your seats."
However, the Doctor, tightened his grip in Iris' hand as he led both of them towards the drivers' door. The hostess tried to stop them, but before she could, Iris pulled the psychic paper out as the Doctor said,
"Engine experts. Two ticks."
With that, Iris winked towards the hostess too, before entering the area. The hostess blushed at that, unable to stop them from entering. Once inside the cockpit, the two men in the compartment turned in shock as one of them stated,
"Sorry, if you could return to your seat, sir."
The Doctor took the psychic paper from Iris as he introduced them,
"Company insurance. Let's see if we can get an early assessment. So, what's the problem Driver Joe?"
Iris looked around the cockpit, making sure everything was fine. Though unfamiliar with the futuristic machinery, she could discern some things, and they were all reading as normal. Driver Joe responded to the Doctor's question at that time with,
"We're stabilizing the engine feeds. Won't take long."
The Doctor shook his head in disagreement, responding with, "Er, no, because that's the engine feed, that line there, and it's fine. And it's a micropetrol engine, so stabilizing doesn't really make sense, does it? Sorry, I'm the Doctor, and this is Iris. We're very clever. So, what's wrong?"
Iris sighed as they waited for someone to answer. When the other young man looked towards her, she arched one eyebrow up. The man swallowed thickly as he grew nervous at the entire situation before answering with,
"We just stopped. Look, all systems fine, everything's working, but we're not moving."
Iris watched the Doctor scan the controls, while she was thinking of how to persuade the two men to join them in the back.
Once the Doctor finished scanning with his sonic screwdriver, he stated confusedly,
"Yeah, you're right. No faults. And who are you?"
Claude looked at them nervously as he introduced himself. "Claude. I'm the mechanic. Trainee."
Iris finally smiled warmly at them as she said, "Nice to meet you two."
Drive Joe sighed, seeming genuinely lost as he said, "I've sent a distress signal. They should dispatch a rescue truck, top speed."
Iris looked down towards what they were looking at as she asked, "How long till they get here?"
The Driver responded quickly with, "About an hour."
Iris cursed under her breath, not having remembered that detail. Everything that was about to happen was going to occur in a timespan of just an hour. But Iris jumped out of her own reveries when she felt the Doctor's curiosity spike up at that moment. Before she could stop him, he said,
"Well, since we're waiting, shall we take a look outside? Just lift the screens a bit?"
Joe looked at the man incredulously as he stated, "It's 100% Xtonic out there. We'd be vaporized."
Iris shook her head while the Time Lord responded with, "Nah. Those windows are Finitoglass. They'd give you a couple of minutes. Go on, live a little."
Without much argument from the two men, Iris and the Doctor could not hide their awe as they saw what was part of the planet. Everything seemed to glisten and sparkle to Iris. She wasn't partial to sparkly things, but she could not deny the beauty in the planet's unique ecosystem. The two men seemed to share their opinion for a moment when Claude muttered in disbelief,
"Look at all those diamonds. Poisoned by the sun. No-one can ever touch them."
Iris looked down at the driver as the Doctor followed that up with, "Joe, you said we took a detour?"
Driver Joe nodded as he responded with, "Just about 40 kliks to the west."
Iris' eyebrows furrowed at that, trying to calculate the distance as she asked, "Is that a recognized path?"
The man shook his head, as he answered, "No, it's a new one. The computer worked it out on automatic."
The Doctor's eyes went up as he said in wonder and excitement,
"So we're the first. This piece of ground. No one's ever been here before. Not in the whole of recorded history."
Claude then jerked up and pointed outside as he asked loudly, "Did you just? No, sorry... it's nothing."
Iris and the Doctor both squinted their eyes as they tried to spot what Claude had supposedly seen, as the Time Lord asked,
"What did you see?"
Claude pointed and responded with, "Just there. That ridge. Like... like a shadow. Just, just for a second."
Iris quickly asked, "What sort of shadow?"
But the moment there was beeping, Iris did not take her eyes off of the window, despite hearing that they were going to lower the shields. That was when she had spotted the slightest bit of movement.
Even with her heightened eyesight, it was difficult to determine exactly what that being was, but she saw it, sharing what she had just observed with the Doctor, who only grew more confused as Claude exclaimed with,
"Look, look. There it is, there it is. Look there!"
The Doctor responded with, "What was it?"
Claude solemnly looked at the two Time Lords and added,
"Like just something shifting. Something sort of dark, like it was running."
The Doctor muttered, "It looked like it was running towards us."
Iris shook her head as she grabbed Driver Joe and Claude's arms each, leading both of the men towards the shuttle, stating,
"Now, that's enough of that. Follow me, I need you two to take a look at something."
The Doctor followed them out, amusedly watching Iris drag the two men out despite their concern and refusals.
As they walked out of the compartment, the four people heard Sky ask,
"What did they say? What is it? What's wrong?"
Driver Joe quickly answered, "Nothing much ma'am, we are just stabilizing."
Iris and the Doctor nodded quickly, making sure that lie was going to stick, when Sky just scoffed in frustration as she additionally said,
"I don't need this. I'm on a schedule. This is completely unnecessary."
But Iris ignored them as she muttered with Driver Joe and Claude about the panel and the potential situation of emergencies. As they were conversing, the Hostess gently suggested everyone to return to their former seats.
Iris knew that the Doctor was trying to converse with Dee Dee quietly, when the silence was broken with Val's outburst of,
"Are we running out of air?"
Iris and the two humans sighed at that, when Claude tried to explain, "Ma'am, we won-"
But before he could finish his explanation, Val screeched out, "How much air have we got?"
Jethro's face turned red with embarrassment, as he tried to calm his mother down, when Biff joined in the pandemonium his wife was creating. That was when Driver Joe stepped up to Val and calmly explained. Val sniffed in her panicked state, but quieted down. However, that did not seem to make Biff very happy, as he started making a ruckus about not trusting the driver.
Thoroughly annoyed with the stupidity of that couple, the Doctor yelled out,
"Everyone! Quiet!"
It worked wonderfully, as everyone in the shuttle turned towards the Doctor, who continued with,
"Thank you. Now, if you'd care to listen to my good friend Claude and Dee Dee."
Claude and Dee Dee looked at each other incredulously when Claude took a nervous breath in and then released it as he said,
"Well, the air's on a circular filter..."
Dee Dee nodded as she further explained, "So we could stay breathing for ten years."
Iris smirked and stood next to the Doctor as she added, "We've talked with the Driver Joe over there, whose our Captain by the way. So, he can guarantee you that everything's fine."
Driver Joe nodded, though Iris could spot the slight concern she could notice from the man's posture. But it was not too long after when there were thumping noises coming from outside the shuttle.
Everyone froze in fear as Val whispered out, "What was that?"
Hobbes shivered a little, though he reluctantly stated, "It must be the metal. We're cooling down. It's just settling."
Dee Dee added in her own thoughts as she said, "Rocks. It could be rocks falling."
Biff huffed haughtily at that, causing Iris to inwardly groan and annoyance flare through her, as he said,
"What I want to know is, how long do we have to sit here."
Another set of thumping noises wracked through the shuttle, causing the people to panic once again. Iris could see Claude's fear slowly take over him while Driver Joe swallowed nervously. She reached out to the Doctor, making sure that he wasn't enjoying this situation too much. And to her own trepidation, he was enjoying this... immensely.
Sky yelled out, unable to control herself, "What is that?"
Val didn't help the situation by stating, "There's someone out there."
This caused Hobbes to state in a derisive tone, "Now, don't be ridiculous."
Iris saw Claude about to prove him wrong, and before he could say something, she quickly covered his mouth. He looked at her incredulously, and she could only find herself shaking her head at him in warning. This was not the time or place for it, since that would only increase the fuel for the fire of pandemonium taking place in the shuttle. Dee Dee stuck to her own thoughts as she said,
"Like I said, it could be rocks."
The Hostess shook her head while Driver Joe stated, "We're currently out in the open. Nothing could fall against the sides."
And yet, another set of thumping noises were made, causing the Doctor to whisper, "Knock, knock."
Jethro smirked, apparently having heard the Doctor's mutterings, as he responded with, "Who's there?"
Iris groaned out loud at that, feeling like smacking the backside of the Doctor's head. She shuffled her feet in her own nervousness, looking down at her heels that she wore. All this racket was not helping as she heard Sky ask,
"Is there something out there? Well? Anyone?"
And then, as if knowing that people were wondering about its existence, Iris heard the thumping noise again. She was so tempted to tell people to shut up, but could not find the courage to do so. Sky continued to freak out while Hobbes tried to calm down the situation as he said,
"I'm sorry, but the light out there is Xtonic. That means it would destroy any living thing in a split second. It is impossible for someone to be outside."
Iris grimaced as she responded with, "Us, yes, it would destroy us, but what if something was acclimated to this planet's environment?"
Hobbes grew silent at that, but looked as if he didn't quite agree with Iris either. The Doctor looked towards her curiously as he asked her through their bond,
"Spoilers?"
Iris nodded subtly, and the Doctor wondered what could cause Iris to be so on edge this time around and make her quiet, when Sky asked,
"Well, what the hell is that, then?"
The Hostess jumped when the Doctor reached out to the hull of the shuttle with his stethoscope as he cautiously said, "Hello?"
Thumping was heard once more, but Iris could tell that this differed from those before. It was responding. Jethro commented the obvious as he said,
"It's moving."
This seemed to terrify Sky even more, as her eyes widened to an abnormal size and Iris could almost feel the overwhelming fear from the woman disperse throughout the entire shuttle. Val was still hysterical as she said,
"It's trying the door."
But as if hearing her, the emergency exit door continued to rattle, until the mysterious creature moved towards the roof and then to the entrance door based on the locations of the thumping.
Val then said, "That's the entrance. Can it get in?"
Dee Dee shook her head as she answered, "No. That door's on 200 weight hydraulics."
Hobbes hissed at her as he said, "Stop it. Don't encourage them."
Iris felt her own patience starting to snap as the people started to let fear control their actions and behaviors. She was getting irritated, but tried to remain calm to make sure that the Doctor did not do anything stupid.
Dee Dee continued talking as she asked, "What do you think it is?"
Val held her husband back as she muttered to him, "Biff, don't."
The Doctor and Iris agreed on that as the Time Lord said, "Mister Cane. Better not."
Biff scoffed, but before he could say something, he saw Iris' intense glare towards him, preventing him from doing what he had originally intended.
The Doctor noticed Iris' irritation, as he said, "All right, all right, all right. Everyone calm down."
Sky shook her head fervently, getting into the Doctor's personal space as she vehemently spit out,
"No, but it answered. It answered. Don't tell me that thing's not alive."
More thumping ensued, and the Hostess, along with Driver Joe tried to have people return to their seats, or at least calm down. But Sky refused to do so, as she whined out,
"No, don't just stand there telling us the rules. You're the hostess. You're supposed to do something."
Iris' fingers twitched a little, itching to knock Sky out, but held back as the Doctor warned her from doing so through their bond. She huffed and ran her fingers through her long, black hair to do something with her hand, but it didn't seem to help much.
She then saw the Doctor approach the door and knock on it four times. There was a long pause, and Iris held her breath in anticipation when a response of four thumps happened right where he was.
Sky jumped at that and backed away from the crowd as she asked,
"What is it? What the hell's making that noise? She said she'd get me. Stop it. Make it stop. Somebody make it stop. Don't just stand there looking at me. It's not my fault. He started it with his stories."
Dee Dee joined Claude then, trying to calm the family near her down while Sky continued to panic more and more. Iris stood there silently, warily eyeing the Doctor as Val muttered,
"You're not helping."
Sky glared at the Doctor then, as she hissed, "Why didn't you leave it alone?"
But when she noticed that most people had calmed down and staring at her with genuine fear and distrust, she lashed out, yelling,
"Stop staring at me! Just tell me what the hell it is."
Dee Dee whimpered and clung onto Claude then, who merely hugged her as he also felt his heart hammer through his chest. More thumping noises were heard and Sky moaned in pain more and more as she said,
"It's coming for me. Oh, it's coming for me. It's coming for me. It's coming for me. It's coming for me."
Iris held back the people, almost standing in a protective stance while the Doctor grabbed her hand. But when Sky backed up tot the driver's door and screamed, the Doctor yelled out,
"Get out of there!"
Iris felt the entire shuttle then shake severely, making her lose her balance and fall down. She barely caught herself from going down face first, when all the lights went out. Iris blinked a few times, adjusting her eyesight to the dark when she heard the Doctor yell out,
"Iris?!"
"I'm fine! I'm alright. Just, give me a minute."
She could feel the relief from him flow through the bond and reached out, making sure he was alright too. She let out a quick sigh of relief at that. The Doctor crawled over to her and looked her over, muttering,
"Arms, legs, neck, head, nose. You're fine. Everyone else? How are we?"
Iris then eyed the monitor behind the Doctor, spotting Rose before she was gone. Iris tensed at her appearance, but didn't say anything. The Doctor didn't notice this as he continued to question the humans with,
"How are we? Everyone all right?"
Hobbes groaned, feeling a slight pain in his hips as he guessed, "Earthquake. Must be."
Dee Dee shook her head, still holding onto Claude, as she said, "But that's impossible. The ground is fixed. It's solid."
As people were re-orienting themselves, Iris glanced towards Sky. She slowly stood up and walked over to her, making sure to keep somewhat of a distance. The Time Lady immediately noticed the difference and bit her lip. The trouble was about to start. She was brought out of that reverie when Driver Joe and the Hostess started to hand out torches. Biting her lip, she decided to check on the creature, as she walked cautiously towards Sky.
The Doctor's panicked warning rang out to her through their bond, but she just indicated that she was going to check. As she heard the Doctor try to calm the people down, she heard Biff yelled out,
"What happened?"
The Hostess gasped as she muttered, "The cabin's gone..."
Claude and Driver Joe remained silent, not sure what would have happened if they had not followed the Time Lady out when they had.
Hobbes scoffed, still talking in his slightly derogatory manner as he stated, "Don't be ridiculous. It can't be gone. How can it be gone?"
Dee Dee glared at him as her annoyance with her professor was reaching at its limit as she responded back with, "Well, you saw it."
Hobbes sighed resignedly, as he muttered to himself, "The cabin can't be gone."
Driver Joe swallowed thickly at that, whilst saying, "It's still safe in here. The rupture automatically sealed itself."
Iris was right by Sky and started conversing with her, giving the creature who had taken over Sky a knowing glance. The Doctor felt a tug that rang a pang of worry into him through the bond. But the ongoing chaos with the citizens was distracting him from focusing what that warning sign was.
Jethro finally noticed something was wrong as he tapped the Doctor on the shoulder and said fearfully,
"Doctor, what is Iris doing?"
Iris was glaring at Sky, whilst whispering something to her. It seemed like Sky was responding back in some way, but nobody could hear what they were saying.
Claude followed it up with, "Why won't she turn around?"
The Doctor sighed as he asked the hostess, "What's her name?"
That was when Iris stood up and answered for everyone with, "This is Mrs. Sky Silvestry."
Everyone froze when they heard Sky's voice state the same thing at the same time.
"This is Mrs. Sky Silvestry."
The Doctor tensed up and he marched up to Iris angrily as he hissed out, "What have you done?!"
Iris mentally told him, "I wasn't going to let her use you."
The Doctor winced immediately at that and couldn't scold her. Yet again, another companion was potentially throwing herself into danger. For him. Iris knowingly gave him a small smile and grasped his hand. He squeezed it as he tried to reign the terror and panic he was feeling.
Of all the companions and people he had come to lose, he didn't want to lose her. He was finally not alone as a Time Lord. Yes, she used to be human, but he finally had her back. He didn't want to lose her again. Not in any circumstances whatsoever. Especially when they had bonded as they had.
It could have been the bond that made him so fiercely protective of her, but he couldn't ease his own worry and concern over her.
Val, in a hushed whisper, asked, "Why did she say the same thing as you when you did?"
Iris exhaled loudly in exasperation as she wanted to explain. The Doctor quickly caught onto her thoughts and explained instead.
"She copies what Iris has been saying to her. She used to have a delayed response and now, she's caught up. Almost as if there is a connection..."
That was when his eyes widened and said, "Iris, don't talk anymore. Please."
Iris glanced warily at him and nodded, but she bit her lip as that explanation threw the rest of the others into a frenzy.
The Doctor walked over to everyone in the back and glared at Sky as he almost seemed to growl as he talked.
"I think the more Iris talks, the more she learns. Now, I'm all for education, but in this case, maybe not. Let's just move back. Come on. Come with me. Everyone get back. All of you, as far as you can."
Iris hesitated, but the Doctor just grabbed onto her hand and dragged her with him to the back.
But when the family didn't move, Iris said along with Sky,
"Val, come to the back and don't look at her."
The Doctor panicked at her speaking up again, as he talked over her, knowing what she was going to say, as he added on,
"Jethro. You too. Everyone, come on. Fifty minutes, that's all we need. 50 minutes till the rescue arrives. And she's not exactly strong. Look at her. All she's got is Iris' voice."
Val whispered out in horror, "I can't... I can't look at her. It's those eyes."
Biff hugged his wife in concern, everyone started to panic a little more and more. Driver Joe and Claude stood by Iris, noticing the paranoia start to settle into their customers' thoughts. As much as they were terrified, they owed their lives to this woman, and they would not abandon her when she clearly was continuing to prevent mass hysteria from taking over them all.
Iris grimaced at all the yelling taking place as she could physically feel the tug coming from the creature that had overwhelmed Sky. Iris turned around to face the woman, who had a smirk on her features. A sense of cold dread settled into her stomach at that. What had she missed? Why was she smiling like that?
As she was wondering this, the Hostess brought her out of her reverie as she stated,
"We should throw her out."
Iris yelled out, "No!" whilst the professor looked aghast at the suggestion as he stuttered,
"I- I beg your pardon?"
Val looked hesitantly towards her husband as she asked, "Can we do that?"
The Doctor glared as they continued to find a way to get rid of either Iris or Sky. He could feel the dread and fear emanating from Iris through their bond and he hated that feeling coming from his friend.
He bit out, "No one is killing anyone."
The Hostess stood up as she shook and said, "I wouldn't risk the cabin door twice, but we've got that one. All we need to do is grab hold of her and throw her out."
Iris vehemently shook her head, getting quickly exhausted from the tugging sensation she was feeling. The Doctor wrapped one arm around Iris' shoulder to make sure she stood, as he said,
"Now, listen, all of you. For all we know that's a brand new life form over there. And if it's come inside to discover us, then what's it found? This little bunch of humans. What do you amount to, murder? Because this is where you decide. You decide who you are. Could you actually murder her? Any of you? Really? Or are you better than that?"
The Hostess swallowed thickly as she said, "I'd do it."
Driver Joe stepped up as he yelled out, "Now, look here-"
But he was interrupted when Biff stepped up too. He looked baffled as more and more people began to turn against the Doctor and the sacrifice Iris had made.
The Hostess and more people continued to annoy the Doctor as he feared for Iris. He could feel her slipping from the bond, and that was never a good thing. It could only mean one thing in this scenario, something was trying to take over her.
"Iris? You alright?"
Iris nodded a little as she hoarsely responded with, "I think I am able to hold on until rescue comes..."
But that seemed to be the last straw as Iris slumped downwards, feeling her muscles lock in and paralyzing her. The Doctor gasped in shock as he barely caught her. That was when everyone froze as they heard Sky speak and Iris copy her as the woman slowly said,
"Oh, look at that. I'm ahead now."
Driver Joe backed everyone up a little further as the passengers went insane from their pure fear once more. Jethro muttered in disbelief,
"She spoke first."
Val shook her head vehemently as she said, "She can't have."
Hobbes genuinely looked terrified now as he said, "She did."
Jethro once again repeated his earlier statement when Sky said,
"I think it's moved."
Iris struggled, but whispered out, "I think it's moved."
Iris' eyes looked into the Doctor's fear settling in as she tried to combat the entity trying to control her as well. She was mentally floundering for anything to help her get anchored and fight the entity in her mind.
Hobbes pointed over at Iris as he said, "Did you see? She spoke before Iris did. Definitely."
Sky once again said, "I think it's letting me go."
Iris trembled as she repeated it.
The people were falling for the monster's acts, and Iris felt the fear flare even more, realizing that she had put herself in a rather precarious position. Dee Dee warily eyed Iris' fearful eyes as she asked Skye,
"What do you mean? Letting you go from what?"
Biff stepped up as he said, "But she's repeating now. She's the one doing it. It's her!"
The Doctor immediately stepped in between the crew and Iris, protecting her from their scrutiny as Jethro stated,
"They're separating."
The professor looked incredulous, but cautiously asked the entity who had taken over Sky's form,
"Mrs. Silvestry, is that you?"
The being gave the man a sick, twisted smile as she said, "Yes. Yes, it's me."
They all heard Iris struggle, but eventually repeat the same response.
But before anybody else could actually start arguing with the Doctor, they all froze as an ear-piercing scream escaped Iris' lips. Other than the entity, everyone's eyes went down to the Time Lady, who had tensed up even further, if that was possible, and started trembling.
As the Doctor started towards Iris, Sky screamed as her hands flew up to grasp her head. When he tried to enter Iris' mind to find out what was causing pain for both people, he was kicked out violently, unable to get a grasp of the cause.
However, he did get one name that shocked him upon the discovery, reminding him of a faint memory of the woman in red he had seen once during the Time War. How did Iris know of her? What was she doing in Iris' subconscious and decided to take over?
But Sky stopped screaming quickly as she fell unconscious to the ground. The Doctor winced as he checked her for a pulse and found none. Iris stopped screaming after about a minute, but her breath came out ragged, as her eyes were clenched as if in pain.
Everyone remained quiet as Iris did not get up, trembling now as if in fear or in a cold environment. The Doctor quickly held Iris close to him as he whispered to her,
"It's gone. It's gone. It's gone, it's gone..."
And that was when Iris whispered, "Doctor...I'm scared."
He shushed her as he hugged her tight to him, letting the bond between calm her down. Telling her that he will try to always be there for her. Iris let a single tear out as Val muttered to the crew,
"I said it was her."
Everyone near her gave Val an incredulous look except for her husband and the Professor, who looked ashamed at what they almost claimed.
For a single moment in the next 20 minutes, the Doctor did not let go of Iris, as they heard a voice from the intercom state,
"Repeat. Crusader 50 rescue vehicle coming alongside in three minutes. Door seals set to automatic. Prepare for boarding. Repeat. Prepare for boarding."
Once they neared the docking station, Iris had calmed down, though she still felt terrified inside. Donna looked at how pale Iris was as the Doctor held her hand, asking,
"What do you think it was?"
The Doctor shook his head as he answered her, "No idea."
Donna sighed as she worriedly asked, "Do you think it's still out there?"
But all she was met with was silence, and she continued with, "Well, Doctor, you'd better tell them. This lot."
The Doctor nodded as he responded with, "Yeah... they can build a Leisure Palace somewhere else. Let this planet keep on turning round an Xtonic star, in silence."
Iris nodded weakly, as she was thinking about what she wanted to do next. Given, she really did want a break from traveling, but she also wanted to continue traveling with the Doctor.
And when they had gone back to the TARDIS, Donna gave both Time Lords privacy in the console room. The Doctor fiddled with his controls as he asked her,
"You alright?"
Iris gave him a weak smile, as she said, "I'm doing... better, but... whatever is in me... it killed the woman on the trip... I'm not sure I'm dealing with that properly."
The Doctor sighed as he then told her, "You should be with Jack and the others."
Iris looked at him sadly as she said, "What about you?"
He then gave her a fake, chipper smile as he told her how he was going to be alright and nothing could stop him from traveling. Iris shook her head, knowing what he was doing. Quietly, she walked over to him and hugged him tight, letting him know that he wasn't alone, and that she was there for him.
The Doctor sighed and smiled at her, hugging her tight. After a few moments, Iris was dropped back at Torchwood. When she walked out of the TARDIS, she watched it dematerialize before turning and heading over to Jack's office.
Like she had expected, he was swamped with work and trying to balance all of the paperwork he had received, causing her to watch him silently from where she was at. Sensing someone's watchful eye, Jack looked up not long after, smiling brightly upon seeing Iris there.
He quickly stood up and gave her a kiss. But he could feel her slightly tremble, causing him to frown and ask her worriedly,
"What happened?"
And with that, the pair spent the night talking about what had happened on the most recent trip that the Time Lady had been on.